The Muscular Dystrophy Assn Will Never Be The Same Without Jerry Lewi

The letting of Lewis was far from abrupt.

Jerry Lewis has become an erratic mess these days and increasingly has become unwell. Some of his public comments are beyond defensible. It IS time for him to retire from hosting the show and it's a shame in a lot of ways. He is a peeless humanitarian and is responsible for Billions of dollars in fund-raising - not to mention putting MD on the forefront of everyone's minds when it comes to contributing their charitable dollars.

I think the MD org. administrators hands were tied because they couldn't trust that Jerry wouldn't continue to call atttention to the conflict.

It's time for him to let the reins go and let someone who is healthier and more able to host.

All that being said, I loved Jerry Lewis and there's was no one as a kid who made me laugh more. However the 85-yr-old version of the man has become beyond cringe-worthy and too hard to be handled be the powers that be. Admirable is some ways, but hard beyond high maintenance.

Labor Day experience and the MD charity fund-raising will take a hit.

It makes me want to rent the movie Nutty Professor again.

As stated in my previous post on this subject, which seems to have vanished into the dust, I've always loved Jerry Lewis and without a doubt the donations to MDA will fall dramatically because of his absence.

I remember as a kid in Chicago, watching Jerry sing his famous song "Swanee" on the stage of the largest theatre on Chicago's Southside while I sat in the balcony.

He was and still is a great performer. He will be missed by many, and in particular the MDA when the millions of $$ fail to start pouring in.

So what if Jerry spoke his mind! More power to him. I fully support Jerry and stand by whatever he said or whatever he did.

Love you Jerry and always will!
By the way, you were great on that stage in Chicago. I'll never forget you.

hahaha..peerless (no peeless)

Sad news indeed. I've spent years watching lengths of the telethon...I don't have the energy to stay awake the entire time, and I've always enjoyed the passion and caring Jerry Lewis has delivered. His ability to interact with all involved and the way he is genuinely touched as the toteboard tally goes up. I recall a number of years back when he had to paint a 1 at the front as it had gone to new territory.

Jerry Lewis helped to place muscular dystrophy in front of people and get them to see that these are regular people who have a great deal to contribute. He will be missed.

I am unsure what led to it, whether it was his declining health in recent years, his age or a combination of both which led the powers in charge to dismiss him so abruptly and it was abrupt. Earlier in the year, he'd been given this as his final year (although he says they neglected to tell him), and then PFFFT! A last minute removal.

Quite frankly I've seen enough of Alison Sweeney, she seems nice enough but how much more are we supposed to see her (commercials for some allergy medicine, Biggest Loser, a daytime soap opera and who knows what else) and how much of a personal investment does she have with MD? Will she be willing to devote 30 to 40 years to the organization? And make no mistake, that is what Jerry Lewis did. He devoted a great amount of spare time and energy to MDA, not just serving as telethon host but speaking up and appearing elsewhere.

This is very upsetting news.

According to Wiki:

"On May 16, 2011, it was originally announced by MDA that the 2011 edition of his annual telethon will be Lewis' last as host, after hosting the annual event since 1954, he will continue to serve as the association's national chairman.

Soon afterward, however, Lewis denied that he was leaving the telethon at all, but on August 3, 2011, the MDA announced that Lewis resigned as chairman and telethon host, the circumstances leading to his resignation unknown."

I saw a little bit of the show last night and without a doubt it was terrible. Several of the performers did thank Jerry for his role in the development of the show.

It's hard to believe the show came from Las Vegas, it was so bad.

Maybe the MDA has learned something from this year's program and won't repeat the same mistakes next year.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/04/eveningnews/main20101566.shtml?tag=pop;stories

Comedians angry with treatment of Jerry Lewis...

They also (at least locally) lopped off the majority of the show. It used to begin Sunday evening before Labor Day and went on being televised through Monday, now it was over in 6 hours. I guess greed wins out again as the broadcasters would hate to lose their revenue, even for a good cause.

I saw a few minutes, the host of the moment (can't say I even caught her name), was literally screaming her scripted glop. She was looking in one direction, the camera was clearly to her right, but she wasn't looking there. Jerry, was able to speak from the heart, no scripts needed and he knew where the camera was.

I couldn't stand the nonsense on the show, so i only watched a few moments. Yes, in the old days (!) the show ran for 21 hours and all through the night. Jerry's wife and daughter always sat in the audience during most of the preformance.

With so many Americans out of work, and donations to all charities down, you'd think MDA would try and keep the show at a higher level and why in God's name get rid of a star performer like Jerry Lewis, who can bring the big bucks in.

I also noticed the tiny band that was playing, when I looked at the show. What happened to all the musicians who used to play?

Jerry Lewis and Dick Clark.

Time for both of them to throw in the towel. . .

Could you imagine Elvis performing at 76?

The MDA should redefine itself now in terms of fundraising and enter into collaboration with other like-agencies, the CPA for one (Cerebral Palsy Association)

It's not as much the idea that eventually Mr.Lewis would have to step down from emceeing the telethon, it was the unceremonious way in which it was done. That combined with a lackluster roster of hosts and what was passed off as talent, shorter on-air time of the program and a myriad of other issues, is a disgrace. It is a disgrace all the way around.

Further, Mr.Lewis might well have had a few more years in him to serve MDA. He wasn't coming in on a stretcher or hosting from a rest home or hospital.

What will the MDA now do for money? Too many .supports of MDA loed Jerry and incidentally had big bucks to give to a charity. Supporter of Jerry will no longer be supporters of MDA.

Jerry Lewis was worth $2 billion to MDA. No more...

For his age, he looked good to me.

We never did find out why Jerry was terminated from the show.